Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Barran on 5 December (HL Deb cols 6–9), what is the appeals mechanism for those institutions that were refused accreditation to carry out teacher training; how the appeals will be carried out and by whom; and whether the decisions of those appeals will be agreed with sufficient time to allow those institutions time to recruit students for the 2023/24 academic year.

Following the completion of the recent initial teacher training (ITT) accreditation rounds, the department allowed an appeals process for applicants who had been unsuccessful. The appeals process opened on 30 September 2022 and applicants had 15 working days to submit an appeal via an online form. The department assessed all submissions on a case-by-case basis, against published criteria. The published criteria allowed for appeals under two circumstances: if there had been an administrative error (the score or feedback did not match, or the score or feedback provided did not relate to the applicant’s material) or on process grounds (that the assessor had not properly taken all material into account).

Submissions were reviewed by trained officials who had not been involved with the original assessment of the application under review. All submissions underwent a comprehensive review, taking into account the submitted material, published criteria, original accreditation applications, and any other associated material. The appeals process has now concluded, with all applicants being notified of their outcomes on 8 December 2022.

The accreditation process is for delivery of ITT from the 2024/25 academic year. The outcomes of this process have no bearing on recruitment for delivery of ITT in the 2023/24 academic year.